the original research because no specialized knowledge was required for the simulation exercise. Validity and reliability Following the introduction of Belbin's approach to Team Role analysis in 1981, an independent study of the psychometric properties of the instruments was published in 1993 in the Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology. Belbin took to task the authors, Furnham, Steele and Pendleton and the Journal provided Furnham space to reply. Belbin argued that the instruments were not intended for scholarly inquiry, but to inform management consulting practices. Additionally, Belbin maintains that the Belbin Team Inventory is not a psychometric instrument and hence applying tests for psychometric properties are irrelevant. There have been several other scholarly studies of the validity and reliability of Belbin's approach over the nearly 26 years since the Furnham-Belbin exchange, most of which have used the inventory in its original form. Fisher, Hunter & MacRosson (2001, June) argue that Furnham's approach (also discussed in Fisher, Macrosson & Sharp (1996)) has fundamental problems in the definitions of several of the eight roles (see also Broucek & Randall (1996) for a more detailed treatment of this problem). Both the Fisher, et al. (2001) and the earlier Broucek & Randall (1996) find that observational and factor analytical approaches yield five rather than eight role constructs. Fisher, et al. go on to argue that this coherence of the five traits of teams is backed up by earlier research by Barrick & Mount (1991). The original research into the Belbin Team Roles was conducted with the old, copyrighted, eight-role version that was intended for an individual's own interest rather than for use as a tool. More recent studies using normed data from Belbin's e-interplace system, such as that by Aritzeta, Swailes and Senior (2004) have found higher correlations and reliability, as well as distinct analytical constructs using the online, normed, nine-role tool with observers added to give 360-degree feedback (enhancing construct validity by providing "real-world" data). Swailes and McIntyre-Bhatty also argued (2001 & 2002) that traditional attempts to measure reliability have been misapplied when it comes to the Belbin Team Role Inventory because it is neither ipsative nor non-ipsative, and an equation that took this anomaly into account gave higher estimates of reliability and validity. Educational applications The Belbin Team Inventory is used in educational settings, including higher education. Smith, Polglase & Parry (2012) applied the Belbin team role self and observer perceptions to